The History of Christianity

We recently learned of a Pastor, Edward J Vasicek in Indiana, who’d used The History of Christianity DVD/PDF curriculum in his Sunday night meetings. I thought his review was insightful.

This series flies through the centuries hitting highlights of great events and personages in church history. Although it is probably slanted more toward evangelicals than other groups, it seeks to accommodate other branches of Christianity and treats all groups with respect.

Most Christians are completely clueless when it comes to church history. Although this is a greatly simplified survey (covering 2,000 years in 3 hours), the average layman can understand and enjoy such a presentation without it seeming long or boring.

We used the series on Sunday nights, and I would sub-divide each 30 minute subject into two and, after 15 minutes of viewing, I would use the workbook material for another 15 to 25 minutes of discussion and additional information. I believe that the workbook material/teacher’s guide now comes as a PDF file (I had the older video tape version).

This series could be expanded greatly if the leader has some background in church history and students were eager to learn, or it could be viewed straight through without comment (or you could use my more modest approach). Either way, I highly recommend it for individuals, home study groups, Sunday School classes, or evening service presentations.

We’ve interviewed Ed about the series and you’ll be able to read it tomorrow. You can learn more about pastor Vasicek’s church and read some of his articles at http://www.highlandpc.com/